The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-09-08
SPEECH
Hon. TIE. Powell,
At the Opening Meeting Of tho
Campaign at Hamilton.
Sept. q, 1857.

this county of magnificent democratic MAORI
ties. 1t is source Of still greater pleasure
that the invitation which inaugurated this
meeting, was presented in behalf of the loyal
democracy Of Butler county by their brilliant
and able leader, James E. Campbell. The
promises of generous, enthusiastic reception
have been more than realized. The spirit
and determination manifested by this vast
audience, which includes many of our lead
ing men from all sections Of the state, clearly
indicates that our party intends to do as well
by me as it did four years ago for George
Hoadly, when in this city it started him upon
campaign which resulted in making him
Governor of Ohio by more than twelve thou
sand majority.
AT THE VERY THRESHOLD OF THIS CONTEST,
desire to call your. attention to the
fact that in his speech of acceptance at To-
ledo Governor Foraker asked for my judg-
ment as to some matters of his official con-
duct, and also served notice that he had more
questions of a similar character to follow.
am ready to answer them all tonight, and
give my judgment of his entire administra-
ton, so far as the limits of single speech
will permit.
In the first place, the Governor of Ohio
should set an example in his own conduct of
loyalty to established order and good govern
ment. Whenever in public place or speech,
he refers to the President of the United States,
it should be with at least a decent respect
for the Chief Magistrate of over sixty mil
lions of people, and. the highest elective Office
on earth. The president represents the dig
nifty of our republic before the other nations
of the world. His reputation should be as
sacred to every fair minded citizen
as his own. In defiance of this sentiment,
Governor Foraker, in large convention, not
only claimed that President Cleveland was
lacking in courage of every kind, but made
the express charge of oowardice against him
by comparing him to a whipped spaniel"
Such universal censure came at once from
private citizen and public press that even the
Governor fastened to join the majorskJ and
pass judgment of condemnation on his own
condi1ct With the swiftness of the telegraph
he sends an invitation to the President he had
insulted to hasten to Ohio, so we could all
"unite in doing honor to his distinguished
presence" The last 1 heard, President
Cleveland had not yet reached the executive
residence at Columbus.
Again there are in Ohio at least four hum
dred thousand democratic voters. They have
done as much to advance the credit, standing
and reputation of our State as was ever done
by the same number of people. In all things
which constitute good citizenship, they have
no superiors. They have right to expect
at the hands of their highest official, decent
language and fair treatment. Yet in the
same State conversion we find Governor
Foraker publicly proclaiming to the world,
that when he was inaugurated, our party had
not left enough cash in the treasury to clean
up the " dirty democratic tobacco spit in the
State House" 1t will not be necessary for
me to take exception to the fact of Governor
Of four millions of people, entering the field
and appropriating the language of ward
politics. His own party has already done the
work of censure. His State Executive Com
mittee is now circulating a second
edition of that speech. Unlike the tariff
it has been both reOised and rsfo,med.
All such elegant language and choice ex-
pressions as "dirty Democrats have been
carefully eliminated.
But, in matters of substance, the speech
requires another and more radical revision
stead of there being no cash on hand
to pay janitors when his term of office began,
there was in the treasury on the day of his
Inauguration the sum of Sill, ,222.50. In
making such statements, Governor Foraker
must have intended to impress upon the peo-
pie of Ohio either one or the other of two
facts. That there was no money in the treas
ury, or that his administration was so ex-
travagant, it required an immense sum to
perform very slight service. AS to which
he intended, leave to him to explain. One
year ago the campaign was opened in Ohio
on the part of the Republican party, by the
governor himself in carefully prepared
speech at Columbus. On the unsupported
testimony Of few persons who were at the
time both lunatics and convicts, he arraigned
the entire Democratic party. He charged US
with crimes against the living and acts of in
humanity against the dead. He claimed that
one of our industries in the management of
the penitentiary was the manufacture of canes
composed Of alternate layers of the tanned
skins of Irishmen and negroes. He, there
fore appealed to both races to rally to the
support of his party in order that proper pro-
lection could be given to their dead. The
investigation which followed established the
fact that this charge was a matter of pure
fiction. As a dramatic performance, this
speech was brought out at the Metropolitan
opera house in Columbus Like the dramas
Of most amateurs it failed on its first night.
1t never had second delivery. The only
substantial result was that the county in
which the speech was made, and where
the truth was known, gave an
increased Democratic majority of from
twelve to fifteen hundred.
For twelve months the Republican press
L r